Summer saw below average sunshine despite much of UK having heatwaves

DESPITE being hit by a “major summer heatwave” the UK saw below average sunshine for the season, the Met Office has said.

The mercury rose to 36.4C (97F) at Heathrow and Kew Gardens on August 7 during the heatwave, making it the hottest August day since 2003.

But while much of the UK saw above average mean temperatures in August, the Met Office yesterday said that more unsettled weather at the start and end of the month balanced the average out.

For the summer as a whole, the UK had a mean temperature of 14.75C (58F) - 0.38C above average, according to provisional data from the Met Office.

But across all three months the UK only had 89 per cent of its average summer sunshine at 449.3 hours, with Northern Ireland only seeing 73% (313.9 hours).

The Met Office said: “Despite several notable weather events, neither the month of August nor the summer as a whole for 2020 will be remembered for being particularly prominent from a climatological point of view.

“Only a handful of counties in the south east of England and north Scotland recorded above average sunshine hours for summer 2020.”

The data also showed that the summer months were wetter than average for the UK with 321mm of rainfall for the three months – 134% of the average.

South-west Scotland, north west England and Northern Ireland saw the wettest summer relative to average with around 150% or more of average rainfall.

The only region to experience a sunnier than average August was north Scotland, with 119% of its average sunshine at 139.7 hours.